Author: NZRacingDesk

Many pre-race pundits had labelled Saturday’s Ellerslie’s feature, the Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m) as a two-horse contest between Lollapalooza (NZ) (El Roca) and Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma), the two hottest three-year-old fillies of spring racing to date. While that ignored the legitimate challenges of several well credentialled rivals, those early predictions played out exactly as expected with the Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray-prepared Tajana holding out race favourite Lollapalooza by the barest of margins in a thrilling finish to the black-type event. Both fillies are noted…

North Island raids have delivered rich rewards this year for Canterbury mare Ears Back (NZ) (Jakkalberry), who collected her second black-type prize in the Gr.3 Hunterville Vet Club Metric Mile (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday. Ears Back is trained in Rangiora by her part-owner John Blackadder, who previously took her north in the autumn for a pair of feature assignments. The Jakkalberry mare ran a close fifth in the Listed Rangitikei Cup (1600m) at Trentham, then broke through in the Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m) at Wanganui at the end…

New Zealand-bred gelding With Your Blessing (NZ) (Vadamos) capped a consistent run of form with his first black-type success in Saturday’s A$250,000 Gr.3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m) at Randwick. The Vadamos gelding progressed through the grades last season with a pair of Randwick victories – an 1100m Benchmark 78 handicap on January 4, followed by a 1300m Benchmark 88 just over a month later. Trainer John Thompson then stepped him up into stakes company and he finished second in a photo finish to the Gr.3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at…

Spring racing moved up a notch at Ellerslie on Saturday for Stephen Marsh, who came away from the meeting with three wins and plenty to be excited about through the months ahead. Marsh collected back-to-back successes early in the afternoon with Guineas contenders Well Written (Written Tycoon) and Churmatt (Churchill), then saddled Little Black Dress (Snitzel) for a third placing in the Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m). But the Cambidge trainer may have saved the best for last, unleashing the exciting four-year-old entire Tardelli (I Am Invincible)…

Quality winter sprinter Spencer (NZ) (Derryn) showed he is just as adept on a better surface as he is on the deep winter footing when he bounced back to winning form with a comprehensive performance to take out the CR Grace Ltd & Waterforce Handicap (1200m) at Trentham. The Erin Hocquard-prepared six-year-old hasn’t had things go all his way during his current campaign including finishing near the rear in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) a Te Rapa last month after being trapped wide most of the way.. Hocquard was prepared…

Statistics had previously suggested Diamond Jak was something of a heavy-track specialist, but he added a new string to his bow on Saturday and delivered a special win for his connections in the Stella Artois (2100m) at Ellerslie. The seven-year-old son of Jakkalberry went into the $65,000 open handicap with five wins to his name, and all of those wins had come in heavy conditions – four of them at Te Rapa and one at Matamata. But Diamond Jak brought his A-game to Auckland on Saturday and won on Soft5…

Progressive three-year-old Churmatt showed he has the ability to take on some bigger assignments in the future with a comfortable victory in the NZB Ready To Run Sale Trainers Series 3YO (1400m) at Ellerslie. The son of Churchill was sent out a dominant $2 favourite for the contest against his age-group rivals following an impressive debut victory at Rotorua which was followed by a gallant second-placed effort behind smart filly Platinum Diamond in the Listed Wanganui Guineas (1200m) last month. Trainer Stephen Marsh was confident his charge would perform creditably…

David Hayes said no stone has been left unturned in the preparation of his stable star Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) as he galloped at Sha Tin on Friday (19 September) ahead of his trip to Australia to tackle the world’s richest turf race, The Everest (Gr.1, 1200m). In his final workout on the grass before leaving Hong Kong, the world’s top-rated sprinter clocked 56.9s over 800m – completing the final 400m in 23.6s – in a showing that his Australian handler called “a good piece of work”. “He looked…

The more things change, the more they stay the same. It may have a new permanent home and a new name, but New Zealand’s richest hurdle race continues to be dominated by Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal. Taika triumphed in the inaugural running of the $150,000 J Swap Great New Zealand Hurdle (4200m) at Te Aroha on Friday, adding his name alongside the Hawke’s Bay stable’s six previous victories when the race was known as the Great Northern Hurdle. According to jumps racing statistician Chris McQuaid, Nelson began his record-breaking…

Fierce Flight kicked off what Te Akau Racing is hoping to be a lucrative weekend for the trans-Tasman operation when winning the Te Aroha Maiden Hurdle (3100m) on Friday. The Flying Artie gelding won six races on the flat, including the Listed Hawke’s Bay Cup (2200m), and placed in the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m), Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) and Listed New Zealand St Leger (2600m), before transitioning to a jumping career two months ago. The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained gelding showed plenty of promise in his three prior starts…